. . . one of the most spellbindingly gorgeous outpourings committed to disc this year.

Record Review /
Steve Smith,
Time Out (New York) / 25. November 2004

The recording finds its greatest strength in the playing of Andrea Marcon's Venice Baroque Orchestra. From the Overture's first bars the vitality, technical wizardry and vivid sonorities give consistent pleasure (listen to the singularly transparent string-underpinning for Cassiope's 'Quando chiudere', one of the innumerable ravishing episodes). In each of the many unison phrases with individual singers, the unity of timbres and basic balance of sound are splendid. Marcon clearly is gifted with unusual dramatic flair, and his leadership draws from his cast an involvement quite beyond what one would expect in a work of this sort. The singers leave little to be desired in terms of distinctiveness of timbre or textual communicativeness. One assumes that they engaged in a true collaboration with Marcon to create the da capo ornamentation . . . each possesses sufficient flexibility for this music . . . As Andromeda, Simone Kermes I at an advantage is being able to employ vibrato as an ornament in itself. Her bright, girlish sound manages to give the ingénue unsuspected dimension . . . Katerina Beranova . . . sings coloratura as effortlessly as if playing runs on a piano. Anna Bonitatibus's Meliso revels in wonderfully mellow sound and formidable range, including one staggering Horne-like interpolation . . . The gentlemen are Max Emanuel Cencic (Perseo), a rich-voiced young countertenor of extraordinary promise; and Mark Tucker (Daliso), whose vocal clarity brings every word vividly to the fore, even if the extreme low range (down to B) tests him, as it would any light lyric tenor. Contributing positively, albeit very briefly, is the 20-voice chorus, La Stagione Armonica. The booklet includes recommendation, then, along with a fervent wish to hear more ¿ a lot more ¿ from Marcon and company.

Record Review /
Roger Pines,
International Record Review (London) / 01. December 2004

Leave the authorship arguments to the testy experts. "Andromeda" offers an assortment of bold and caressing Baroque pleasures that stand and sing on their own merits.

Record Review /
Steven Winn,
SFGate.com / 19. December 2004

Andrea Marcon directs with an infectiously joyous brio . . . I enjoyed this set enormously: do try it.

Under the impeccable direction of Andrea Marcon the Serenata is given exceptional advocacy by successful late-baroque specialists, the Venice Baroque Orchestra. Their imaginative performance exudes refinement and controlled power. These new-generation Vivaldi specialists certainly deserve their position as one of the world's most outstanding period instrument ensembles.

The singers are, in fact, a terrific lot, both fluent and dramatic . . . the spotlight here is stolen by the Venice Baroque, whose splendid ensemble and sprightly sound are delightful and astounding by turns. It is not only the virtuosic precision of their playing and the appropriately studied yet natural way they apply legato and détaché; under Andrea Marcon's expert leadership, the orchestra plays with a thrilling sense of timing and direction. Marcon excels.

Record Review /
Drew Minter,
Opera News (New York) / 01. March 2005

It is Simone Kermes, suddenly everywhere as the new queen of baroque opera, who dominates things here. Her keenly focussed voice and sure dramatic instincts draw the title character into something like real human personality, while musically she copes brilliantly with the widest range of mood and degrees of virtuosity her role entails . . . In all, this is an attractive performance, not likely to be challenged soon . . .

Record Review /
Barker,
American Record Guide / 01. April 2005

. . . the performances are as authentic and stylish as one could wish for . . . ¿Andromeda liberata¿ is quite a find, and this premiere recording is not likely to be bettered anytime soon, if at all.

Record Review /
Raymond Tuttle,
Classical Net / 01. June 2005

I would be delighted to discover the "Vivaldi" serenata "Andromeda liberata" in my Christmas stocking: Simone Kermes, Anna Bonitatibus and Max Emmanuel Cencic provide thrilling and sensuous dramatic singing; Andrea Marcon and the Venice Baroque Orchestra obviously have a great time playing the music. The sense of fun and adventure that pervades this wonderful recording makes the exaggerated attribution to Vivaldi seem harmless.

In fiery arias like "Lo so, barbari fati", Ms. Kermes demonstrated exceptional technique. But it was in "Madre, lascia ch'io senta in prima il core", an aching, slow-motion aria in which Andromeda struggles to choose between love and duty, that I was swept away by her ability to speak directly to the heart . . .

. . . one of the most fascinating releases to date in a genre whose special qualities are to be found less in dramatic action than in the artistic interplay of emotional states. Marcon and his superb ensemble bring this across most beautifully. In the lively delivery of the recitatives one already is aware of the joy and energy with which they have approached the work, but this is most apparent in the coloratura and ornamentation of the arias. Yet Marcon perfectly well understands that musical excitement must never be an end in itself, rather that it must always be placed in the service of rhetorical elucidation.

Andromeda liberata - A Venetian Mystery

With the recording of Andromeda liberata - their début on Archiv Produktion - Andrea Marcon and the Venice Baroque Orchestra have scored a real coup. This is a newly rediscovered, full-concert-length work that languished in obscurity for some 275 years. Usually it's in attics, boxrooms or junkrooms that sensational finds like this one are made. But In the case of Andromeda liberata it was the venerable archive of the Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello in Venice where, in April 2002, the French musicologist Olivier Fourés happened upon the manuscript of an anonymous, early 18th-century serenata.

When a discovery of the magnitude of Andromeda liberata takes place, the reaction is rather like a volcanic eruption. Regarding the work's authorship, the scholarly world is, at least for the time being, divided in its opinion. Fourés has been able to prove beyond doubt that the aria "Sovvente il sole" was written by Antonio Vivaldi and, on the basis of various indications, he has suggested the possibility that the entire work may have been composed by Vivaldi. Nevertheless there is mounting evidence that points to a composite score, a "pasticcio", bringing together pieces by different composers. The renowned Vivaldi specialist Michael Talbot has found unmistakable signs that some of Vivaldi's leading Italian contemporaries - for example, Giovanni Porta and Tomaso Albinoni - were involved in the composition. The pasticcio was a popular form in Baroque music, and an extraordinarily practical one, because it allowed already existing musical pieces to be recycled by assembling them in new combinations.

As for the question, "Was it Vivaldi or not?", the Venice Baroque Orchestra has followed that debate only insofar as it serves the interests of their thrilling recording, about to be issued on Archiv Produktion. Andrea Marcon, the orchestra's founder and director, considers Vivaldi's authorship to be entirely plausible, but his and his musicians' overriding concern has been that of making this exciting, sparkling score accessible to a wider audience. The Baroque sound world here finds ideally sympathetic exponents: the Venice Baroque Orchestra is made up of outstanding instrumentalists who have specialized in the interpretation of early music. After hearing them in concert one London critic declared that it was like hearing Vivaldi's Four Seasons for the very first time. Now, in this recording, posterity actually will be hearing Andromeda liberata for the very first time in over 275 years.

For that we owe a debt of gratitude to musicologist Olivier Fourés. With the meticulousness of a detective, he tracked down the historical facts behind its genesis. The trail led to Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, who returned to his native Venice on 21 July 1726 after 14 years of political banishment. Ottoboni was a great music lover, and numerous concerts were organized in his honour during the summer and autumn of 1726. It was at one of these concerts that the serenata entitled Andromeda liberata received its first performance.

The questions raised by this spectacular discovery are as fascinating as the serenata itself, the plot of which - in modern terms - could be described as a tale of abduction with a happy ending. It derives from the Greek myth of Andromeda's marriage to Perseus. The fair Andromeda is the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, rulers of Ethiopia. Queen Cassiopeia's vanity arouses the indignation of the sea-nymphs, who regard themselves as even more beautiful than she is. Revenge comes swiftly: the sea-god Poseidon sends a sea-monster to ravage Ethiopia. In his despair the king asks the oracle how he can save his country, and is told that the only way is to sacrifice his daughter. The young woman is left naked and chained to a rock to be devoured by the sea-monster. Looking down, the young Perseus beholds the princess in her plight. He slays the monster, releases Andromeda and promptly falls in love with her. In gratitude for rescuing her, the royal couple bestow on Perseus their daughter's hand in marriage.

Why should this of all subjects have been chosen for musical setting to celebrate Ottoboni's return? A number of symbolic parallels with political overtones can be drawn. The young Perseus serving as redeemer represents Cardinal Ottoboni, while Andromeda embodies the suffering city of Venice. The antagonist Daliso, an invented character in the composition, could stand for the diplomatic hurdles that Ottoboni needed to overcome in order to return to his beloved native city.

Andromeda liberata, the serenata recorded here, is both a magnificent musical piece of Venice and yet another enigma of this city, which to this day has lost none of its mysterious allure. In the hands of Andrea Marcon and the Venice Baroque Orchestra the work opens a window into the Baroque era - the orchestra's artistic director is a fierce advocate of emotionally charged music making, even, and especially, when the music is Baroque: "Without your own emotion, affetto, and understanding, you are far from the real Baroque. Of course, there's not only one valid interpretation: anyone who believes that idea is absolutely wrong. Even after our years of experience in the field, there is still so much to learn!" And although there is no end to learning, nor any definitive solution yet to the puzzle of Andromeda liberata's authorship, there is one thing that can safely be said: this recording with the Venice Baroque Orchestra is the invitation to an exhilarating musical journey to "La Serenissima".

Ulrike Brenning7/2004

Andrea Marcon - Biography

Luigi Boccherini (1743–1805)

The Venice Baroque Orchestra’s founder and
director, Andrea Marcon, was born in Treviso and received a diploma in early
music from Basle’s Schola Cantorum for his organ and harpsichord studies with
Jean-Claude Zehnder. Among his other influential teachers are Luigi Ferdinando
Tagliavini, Hans van Nieuwkoop, Jesper Christensen, Harald Vogel and Ton
Koopman. From 1983 to 1997, he was harpsichordist and organist of the
Treviso-based early music ensemble Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca. He also
founded and directed the International Organ Festival ”Città di Treviso”,
playing a prominent role in the restoration of the city’s historic organs.

1986

Andrea Marcon wins first prize in the organ competition in Innsbruck.

1991

As a
harpsichordist Marcon wins first prize in the Bologna competition.

1997

Marcon founds the Venice Baroque Orchestra with some of Italy’s finest
instrumentalists; together they have performed throughout Europe and Japan.

1998

Marcon’s dedication to the rediscovery of Baroque masterpieces leads
to the first fully staged performances in modern times of Francesco Cavalli’s
opera L’Orione.

2000

Marcon and the VBO give the first fully staged performances in modern
times of Handel’s Siroe.

2001

The VBO makes its New York début at Lincoln Center in August; Marcon
conducts the orchestra in the first contemporary revival of Cimarosa’s L’Olimpiade
at Venice’s Teatro Malibran.

VBO/Marcon make a rapturously received début at the BBC Proms in
August at London’s Albert Hall

2002/03

The VBO under Andrea Marcon make a critically acclaimed 20-concert début
tour of the US, followed by appearances in Vienna, Paris, London and Cologne
with mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager. They also perform in cities
including Rotterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, Barcelona, Venice, Zurich, Geneva,
Munich, Düsseldorf, Lyon and Tokyo.

2003/04

The orchestra and Marcon tour Germany, appear at festivals in Lucerne,
Ambronay, Passau and Eisenach, and also perform in Zurich, Geneva, Lyon,
Basle, São Paulo and Istanbul. They present concert performances of Han­del’s
Siroe in Paris, Hamburg and Metz, and make tours of the US that
include Los Angeles’s new Walt Disney Hall, semi-staged performances of Siroe
in Berkeley and fully-staged performances of Handel’s opera at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music, produced by the acclaimed French-Argentine
director Jorge Lavelli. Andrea Marcon also conducts Handel’s Ariodante at
the Frankfurt Opera (stage production by Achim Freyer) and gives organ
recitals in Milan, Dresden and Seoul.
In January 2004 the VBO and Andrea Marcon make their first recording for
Archiv Produktion under their new exclusive contract: Andromeda liberata;
the world-première recording of this remarkable Venetian serenata, it
will be released as a 2-CD set in autumn.

2004/05

The orchestra’s season will open at the inaugural Venice Music Festival with a
performance of Andromeda
liberata. To
coincide with this occasion,the work’s modern-day première, Archiv
Produktion will release the VBO’s new recording of the serenata.
Following performances of Andromeda in New York (Carnegie Hall),
Boston, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Amsterdam and London, Katia and Marielle Labèque
will join Marcon and the orchestra on a North American tour featuring Bach
keyboard concertos and Vivaldi sinfonias. The VBO and Marcon will also appear
in concert in Metz, Bor­deaux and Munich, among other cities.Future Archiv Produktion
releases will include a collection of Italian violin concertos with soloist
Giuliano Carmignola and an album of Vivaldi sin­fonias and string concertos.